Here are some selected survey results from the recent 18-month surveys! Thanks to those who participated – it’s so fun to see how our now-toddlers are progressing (doesn’t it feel like we were flooded with birth announcements not so long ago?)
Note: NA answers are removed from totals. These answers are not de-duplicated, so multiple parents might have answered for the same child (and in some cases a parent answered once for multiple Marchling twins).
There were 166 responses, 156 of whom answered the first question.
Gender identity: 92 percent of survey-takers identify as women, and 7 percent identify as men, while 1 percent identify as another gender.
Age: The maximum age of survey-takers is 48 and the minimum age is 25.
Number of kids:
77 percent of survey-takers have just one kid!
Enjoyment of parenting
The majority of parents who took the survey enjoy parenting quite a lot, while some might be struggling right now and looking forward to future parenting horizons. No survey taker answered less than 2 on a scale of 1-5.
The toddlers in the group have a ton of personality, and we see them shine in all different ways!
Our favorite Marchling traits
Our Marchlings’ favorite activities
Playtime takes on a variety of modes, including a lot of playing with siblings.
Favorite toys
Marchlings gravitate towards cars and stuffed toys, with a healthy dose of books!
How many teeth?
OK, it turns out a lot of us don’t really know how many teeth our kid has, and we’re not willing to stick our fingers in to find out. The lowest number of teeth reported was 2, and 18 was on the high end! Several babies have all the baby teeth they’ll need for the next few years, and for many, the fun is still to come…
Milestones
Of those who entered one or more milestones, around a quarter of Marchlings are already jumping! It’s always good to remember that “March Bumpers” includes a wide range of ages & milestone achievements come in so many forms.
| milestone | N | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Walking | 152 | 92% |
| Turn pages of a book | 151 | 91% |
| Using a spoon/fork | 137 | 83% |
| Climbing upstairs solo | 136 | 82% |
| Dancing | 130 | 78% |
| Running | 128 | 77% |
| Rolling a ball | 127 | 77% |
| Hiding | 111 | 67% |
| Walking backward | 99 | 60% |
| Using an open cup | 89 | 54% |
| Singing | 84 | 51% |
| Kicking a ball | 79 | 48% |
| Taking clothes off | 65 | 39% |
| Walking upstairs | 62 | 37% |
| Put two or three words together | 53 | 32% |
| Putting clothes on | 47 | 28% |
| Jumping | 42 | 25% |
Some of our toddlers are hitting quite a few of the milestones listed, while most are somewhere in the middle – and we’re all waiting to see what they get into next…
First Words
Some Marchlings communicate using sign language or other means, while many kids started talking with mom/dad equivalents – animals and pet names are also popular first words!
| First word | N | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dad/dada | 38 | 32% |
| Mama/mum | 34 | 29% |
| Cat/kitty | 11 | 9% |
| Hi | 8 | 7% |
| Pet’s name | 5 | 4% |
| Dog | 4 | 3% |
| Uh oh | 4 | 3% |
| Up | 4 | 3% |
| No words yet! | 3 | 3% |
| Ball | 3 | 3% |
| Food-related | 3 | 3% |
| Meow | 2 | 2% |
Favorite Books
These little ones love their books – over 100 distinct books were mentioned! Here are those that got more than one favorite (and some kids just like ’em all!)
| Favorite book | N |
|---|---|
| Brown Bear, Brown Bear | 6 |
| All Of Them | 3 |
| Dear Zoo | 3 |
| Llama Llama Red Pajama | 2 |
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar | 2 |
| 100 First Words | 2 |
| Moo Baa Lalala | 2 |
| Spot | 2 |
| I Am A Bunny | 2 |
| Goodnight Moon | 2 |
Our babies started out with a mix of feeding strategies (nursing, formula, pumping, all of the above…) – and now they’re eating food along with us. Twenty-five percent of Marchlings in the survey still nurse sometimes, in varying amounts!
Favorite Foods
Whether nursing or not, mealtimes play a big role in all of our lives. Below are Marchlings’ favorite foods that had more than one vote – yes, many of our kids like berries.
| Favorite food | N |
|---|---|
| Cheese | 22 |
| Blueberries | 15 |
| Fruit | 12 |
| Raspberries | 7 |
| Pasta | 6 |
| Banana | 4 |
| Yogurt | 4 |
| Pizza | 4 |
| Beans/legumes | 4 |
| Strawberries | 3 |
| Sausage | 2 |
| Peas | 2 |
| French fries | 2 |
| Crackers | 2 |
| Berries | 2 |
Mealtimes
Most of our toddlers eat 4-6 times per day.
About 13% of survey takers reported that mealtimes were “somewhat” to “very” stressful.
Childcare for our kids comes in all forms.
| Childcare used | N | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Day care | 66 | 42% |
| Stay at home parent | 45 | 28% |
| Grandparent | 19 | 12% |
| Work from home parent | 14 | 9% |
| In-home nanny or au pair | 7 | 4% |
| Out-of-home nanny | 5 | 3% |
| Home daycare | 1 | 1% |
| Opposite shift as partner | 1 | 1% |
Many of us are also spending quite a bit of money on childcare! Home daycares and nannies/au pairs tend to cost the most, while some work from home/stay at home parents still have ample childcare costs. The average daycare cost is between $1,000 and $1,500 per month!
The cost of childcare takes its toll differently on families with different resources. Paying for childcare on less than $50,000 income is incredibly challenging.
It’s true that parenting any toddler is both exhausting and rewarding. And, repeating it doesn’t make it any less true – parenting a toddler born at the beginning of a global pandemic brings a truly unique set of anxieties as well as sources of joy as we figure out how to introduce our kids to the world.
What is making us most anxious?
Yes, another word cloud – this visualization makes it clear what’s on our mind these days.
What overwhelms us the most?
Note the prominence of word “trying” here – we are all trying to do so much, and we’re all succeeding at a lot – it’s important to give ourselves some grace when we can’t do everything.
And yet – there’s so much to look forward to…
…and so much bringing us joy:
All in all, we have a great community of wonderfully unique toddlers who are all learning, growing, and showing us their personalities in new ways every day.
The rest of the charts, sans commentary: